Mercedes-Benz S-Class Wins Automotive Excellence Award

Tuesday September 5, 10:45 am ET

New S550 Garners Top Safety Award from Popular Mechanics Magazine

MONTVALE, N.J., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The new-generation 2007 Mercedes- Benz S-Class sedan, the company's latest flagship sedan and the successor to a long line of premium luxury vehicles, has won a coveted Automotive Excellence Award from POPULAR MECHANICS magazine, one of the largest and most trusted technology magazines that reaches more than 8.6 million readers each month. Chosen by the magazine's experienced team of automotive editors, the new S550 model won their Safety award, one of ten categories that comprise their Automotive Excellence Awards, which recognize exceptional 2007 model-year vehicles.

Don Chaikin, automotive editor, POPULAR MECHANICS, said, "With the changing environment and economy, automotive manufacturers have to provide consumers with innovative, cost-effective and better-performing vehicles in order to stay competitive in today's market. It's hard to find a model that doesn't have some great new feature, but our automotive team sought the best of the best for our readers and has singled out these ten models as our top- of-the-line picks."

                    PRE-SAFE, Distronic Plus and Much More

The new-generation S-Class sedan made its U.S. debut earlier this year with an impressive array of industry-leading safety features. First, the revolutionary PRE-SAFE® system senses loss of control and automatically takes measures to protect occupants before a possible impact.

The new radar-based Distronic Plus cruise control can maintain a pre-set following distance behind the vehicle ahead and it is networked with other systems so that Brake Assist can be readied and PRE-SAFE measures can be triggered if the closing speed to the next vehicle is too great. Extensive testing suggests that these features will reduce rear collisions.

                         Infra-Red Night View Assist

Another innovative technology that made its debut on the 2007 S-Class is Night View Assist, a new option that can extend the driver's ability to see ahead to nearly 500 feet. An industry first, and in contrast to passive systems that rely only on thermal imaging, this active system bathes the road ahead with invisible infra-red light from two projector beams mounted in the headlights. An infra-red camera discreetly mounted in the windshield receives the reflected images and displays them in a high-resolution display in the instrument cluster.

              The Industry's First Rapidly Flashing Brake Lights

The new-generation S600 and S65 AMG models are equipped with adaptive brake lights that can flash rapidly during emergency braking, a feature that's expected to reduce rear collisions. Another industry first from Mercedes, the rapidly flashing LED brake lights are triggered primarily by the car's Brake Assist system (standard on all Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles since 1998), which automatically provides full-power braking assist whenever it senses faster-than-usual brake pedal application.